The environmental permit and license for the hydro facility is the final approval required by the Secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente (SERNA), Honduras’s Natural Resources and Environmental Ministry.
The approval enables Minerco to submit the hydro-electric project to Empresa Nacional de Energia Electrical (ENEE), the Honduras National Electric Company, for its power purchase agreement (PPA).
The PPA is the final step before Congressional approval and start of construction, the company said.
The project is estimated to have the potential capacity to gross $3.5m per year once fully operational and has an estimated internal rate of return of 18%.
SERNA awarded necessary approvals and contracts, including the operations contract and water contract, for the power project.
Minerco president and CEO Scott Vanis said the environmental license allows the company to formally submit the Chiligatoro project to ENEE for the PPA.
"While we will continue to expand and diversify our business model and scope, the company plans to focus on the Chiligatoro Project and its construction in next year," Vanis said.
Minerco is a progressive developer, producer and provider of clean, renewable energy solutions in Latin America.
